


Following the Leader

by ChokolatteJedi



Category: Finding Nemo (2003)
Genre: Adventure, Escape, Fish, Friendship, Gen, Ocean, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-03
Updated: 2012-08-03
Packaged: 2017-11-11 18:34:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/481589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChokolatteJedi/pseuds/ChokolatteJedi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Once they escape from the dentist, the others look to Gill to guide them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Following the Leader

It had taken him a bit longer to figure out how to defeat the AquaScum 2003, but eventually the advanced technology had crumbled to almost the same technique as the simpler filter. On the second attempt, Gill's plan went off without a hitch, and all seven friends achieved their freedom.

"So this is what the ocean is like?" Peach asked as Nigel finished letting the others out of their bags. She was being supported by Bloat, as they were so close to the surface.

Gill inhaled deeply and smiled. "Yeah," he said softly, "this is it." He was finally free again, finally out in the ocean where he belonged. It looked better than he remembered, better than he had pictured late at night while floating behind the pirate skull.

"So what now?" Peach continued.

"Now we each go our separate ways, and find our own homes out here." Gill declared, knowing exactly where he intended to go. Before he set off to find his own place where he belonged, he wanted to check on the kid and make sure he had made it back home.

"You want us to split up?"

Gill turned around, surprised by the heartbroken tone to Deb's voice. He found the others all free from their bags and staring at him with mixed degrees of shock and sadness. "What?" He didn't understand why they were surprised by this; hadn't they known that this was always the ending of the plan?

"You want to leave us alone out here?" Bloat asked.

"Yeah, no offence, Gill, but none of us have ever even seen the ocean, let alone been in it," Gurgle explained.

"Bubbles!" Bubbles declared.

As they all stared at him the same way they did each time he outlined a new plan, Gill knew they were right. He had been their leader for so long, and none of them knew anything about survival out in the big blue. It would be cruel to leave them at this point. He might push others to the limits of their capabilities, but Gill had never been cruel.

"Well, if you all want to go the same direction as me, then I won't object," he said in his best expressionless way. "I just thought you'd want to do your own thing now that you had the whole ocean to explore."

"Let's just say that we'd like an experienced guide for a little while," Bloat replied cheerfully, but Gill didn't miss the look in the other fish's eyes. They were nervous, and they needed a calm leader to keep them from panicking.

"Well then, let's go," he got into battle plan mode. "Okay, our object is to find the reef. I wanna make sure Sharkbait got home alright."

"Alright!" the others cheered.

"Now, I've talked to Nigel about this. All we have to do is follow the pipelines out of the harbor. We've got to stay low to avoid the fishing grounds, but that should be the only tricky part in Sydney."

As he spoke, he began to swim, knowing the others would follow, as they always did. "Then there's a bit of open seas, but I've got an idea for that, and then we hit the EAC."

"We get to ride on the EAC?" Bloat asked, excited.

"No. It's going the wrong way. There are a few eddies that we can use to move upwards, but mostly we're going to be traveling alongside it, just using it as a guideline. Once we're near the reef, we find a native to take us the rest of the way."

What he had no way of knowing then, though he found out after arriving, was that he was following the exact same route that Nemo, Marlin, and Dory had taken, just weeks after they did.

And, like those before him, Gill and the other tank fish safely arrived at the reef. They shared a tearful (on the part of the girls and Bloat, at least) reunion with Sharkbait, and received a surprisingly warm welcome from the other fish on the reef. Marlin even approached Gill at one point and thanked him profusely for taking care of his son while he couldn't.

After a season on the reef, Gil began to feel claustrophobic, just as he had in the tank. It hadn't been this bad before he was captured, but clearly life in captivity had changed him. Even with an entire reef to explore, with leagues of ocean around him, he still felt too contained.

So he said his goodbyes, and explained his reasons when he needed to. Deb seemed to think that he was going out to search for Flo, and he didn't bother to correct her. Peach simply gave him a knowing look and said "come back safe."

The next morning, when he slipped away from the reef, he was only slightly surprised to see Sharkbait waiting for him a little past the drop off. It only made sense; the boy's neurotic father had explored leagues of ocean, albeit unwillingly, and the kid, the true adventurer, had seen so little of it. That said, Sharkbait was still young; he might not be ready for this. "Come to see me off?" he asked instead.

Sharkbait fell into place beside him, his smaller fin working frantically. Gill slowed his tail's movements just fractionally, but didn't stop.

"I'm coming with you," he declared after a moment.

"Are you now?" Gill asked conversationally.

"Yes."

"Does your father know?"

"Yes." That part surprised Gill a bit, but he could tell from the firm way the kid said it that he was telling the truth.

"And he's fine with it?"

"As long as I'm with you," the youngster replied easily.

Gill almost stopped swimming, more shocked by that then by the knowledge that he had actually asked permission. "Really?"

"Yup! So where are we going?"

Gill took a long look at Sharkbait – no, at Nemo – out of his near eye. The kid was certainly growing up. "I thought I'd explore what's beyond Sydney: maybe see how far the coast goes."

"That sounds like fun!" Nemo declared cheerfully.

Gill gave his new traveling companion another long look before replying gently, "I thought so too."


End file.
